Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2022, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (3): 1-15.doi: 10.11978/2021130CSTR: 32234.14.2021130

• Marine Geology •     Next Articles

Characteristics and formation mechanisms of faults on the Jurassic oceanic crust in the western Pacific Ocean*

ZHANG Jinchang1,2,3(), YANG Xiaodong1,2,3(), LIN Jingxue4, QU Meng5, LUO Yiming6   

  1. 1. CAS Key Laboratory of Ocean and Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 511458, China
    2. Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
    3. China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Science, CAS-HEC, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan
    4. College of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
    5. School of Marine Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China
    6. Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
  • Received:2021-09-26 Revised:2021-12-10 Published:2021-12-14
  • Contact: YANG Xiaodong E-mail:jzhang@scsio.ac.cn;xdyang@scsio.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Key Research and Development Program of China(2018YFC0309800);Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of Guangdong Province(2021B1515020098);Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou)(GML2019ZD0205);National Natural Science Foundation of China(41776058);National Natural Science Foundation of China(41890813);Chinese Academy of Sciences Project(133244KYSB20180029);Chinese Academy of Sciences Project(131551KYSB20200021);Chinese Academy of Sciences Project(Y4SL021001);Chinese Academy of Sciences Project(QYZDY-SSW-DQC005);Chinese Academy of Sciences Project(ISEE2021PY03);Chinese Academy of Sciences Project(E1SL3C02);Guangdong Provincial Research and Development Program in Key Areas(2020B1111520001)

Abstract:

The Jurassic crust is thought to be the oldest existing oceanic crust, with a very sparse distribution on Earth. The fault characteristics and structural deformation of the Jurassic crust remain poorly understood. In this study, we took full advantage of high-resolution reflective seismic profiles to examine the basement of Jurassic oceanic crust, sedimentary stratigraphy, and fault structures in the western Pacific. Our new results revealed three types of faults in the Jurassic crust, namely, basement fault, sedimentary fault, and collapsing fault. Geometric parameters and deformational characteristics of these faults were quantitatively studied in unprecedented detail, such as strike, dip, and displacement. Basement fault is formed by the bending and extending of oceanic crust, which continues to evolve to cut off the overlying sedimentary units and break through the seafloor to form distinct fault scarps during subsequent submarine sedimentation. Sedimentary fault is resulted from the gravity loading of sediment itself, with effect from the material properties of sedimentary layer. Collapsing fault is caused by the lateral movement of sediment above the intrusive magmatic body. The intrusion of magmatic body uplifts the existing oceanic crust and its overlying sediment, causing the existing basement fault and sedimentary fault to reactivate. Inferred strikes of active faults that cut through the basement and sediment are basically in agreement with the orientations of the Jurassic basement undulation, gravity anomaly abrupt-change boundaries, and magnetic lineations, implying that these faults were formed during the seafloor spreading at the Jurassic mid-ocean ridges and had been active till now. These faults developed on such old oceanic crust allow water to enter the lithosphere for a long time and enhance water cycling through plate subduction. Despite being absent of great earthquakes on these normal faults, they have the potential to evolve into giant seismogenic faults on the subducting plate. Here, we call for attention to tectonic evolution and geologic risk of these faults when they approach subduction zone.

Key words: oceanic crust, Jurassic, faulting, water cycling, earthquake

CLC Number: 

  • P534.52